The invention relates in general to mortar munitions and in particular to a mortar tube for training purposes.
The world's militaries make large monetary and resource outlays to train soldiers to use mortar systems, such as the 120 mm mortar. Additional amounts are dedicated to ammunition. It is possible to reduce such costs by utilizing cheaper training ammunition, for example, by substituting 81 mm training ammunition for the more expensive 120 mm training ammunition. This has resulted in a large cost savings, e.g., $35million.
The current 81 mm training ammunition is being rapidly depleted and will be completely exhausted in the near future. The U.S. military has chosen to replace this training ammunition with more advanced ammunition. The current 120 mm sub-caliber training inserts are not designed to handle the pressures of the new series of training ammunition. The current operating pressure is about 8800 psi, as compared to 12,000 psi for the new training ammunition.